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Bukharan Jews

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Revision as of 03:38, 10 November 2007 by LeeMulod333 (talk | contribs) (Undid revision 170248866 by TShilo12 (talk))(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) Ethnic group
Bukharan Jews
Total population
approx. 150,000 - 160,000
Regions with significant populations
 Israel100,000
 United States50,000
 Austria2,500
 Uzbekistan100-1,000
 Tajikistan100-1,000
 Pakistan100-1,000
Languages
Traditionally Bukhori, Russian and Hebrew spoken in addition.
Religion
Judaism
Related ethnic groups
Other Jewish groups
(Mizrahi, Sephardi, Ashkenazi, etc.)
Kurds,Mountain Jews

Bukharan Jews (also Bukharian Jews or Bukhari Jews) (Heb:בוכרים , Bukharim) are Jews from Central Asia who speak Bukhori, a dialect of the Persian language. Their name comes from the Uzbek city of Bukhara, which once had a large Jewish community. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the vast majority have moved to Israel or the United States. Others have emigrated to Europe or Australia.

Background

The Bukharan Jews trace their ancestry to Israelites who never came back from the Assyrian captivity in the 8th century BCE. In Central Asia, they survived for centuries subject to many conquering influences. The community was essentially cut off from the rest of the Jewish world for more than 2,000 years and managed to survive in the face of countless odds. They are considered one of the oldest ethno-religious groups of Central Asia and over the years they have developed their own distinct culture. The Bukharan Jews claim descent from the tribes of Issachar and Nephtali.

Most Bukharan Jews lived in Emirate of Bukhara (currently Uzbekistan and Tajikistan), while a small number lived in Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan and some other parts of the former Soviet Union. In Emirate of Bukhara, the largest concentrations were in Samarkand, Bukhara, and Khokand. In Tajikistan, they similarly were mainly concentrated in the capital, Dushanbe.

Prior to the Partition of British India, some Bukharan Jews could be found among the Afghan population of Peshawar in the North West Frontier Province of northwestern India, (now Pakistan). After partition and the creation of Israel, nearly all of these Jews left for Israel and other countries. One synagogue still exists in Peshawar and there are two main synagogues and several Jewish cemeteries that still function in the port city of Karachi.

Name and language

Interior of the Great Synagogue in Bukhara, sketch based on a photograph by Elkan Nathan Adler.

The term "Bukharan" was coined by European travelers who visited Central Asia around the 16th century. Since most of the Jewish community at the time lived under the Emirate of Bukhara, they came to be known as Bukharan Jews. The name by which the community called itself is "Isro'il" and "Yahudi."

Bukharan Jews used the Persian language to communicate among themselves and later developed "Bukhori", a distinct dialect of the Tajiki-Persian language with certain linguistic traces of Hebrew. This language provided easier communication with their neighboring communities and was used for all cultural and educational life among the Jews. It was used widely until the area was "Russified" by the Russians and the dissemination of "religious" information was halted. Although a minority speak still speaks primarily Bukhori, the majority today uses Russian as its main language

A Bukharan Jewish girl, c.1900.

History

Having developed over the millennia from northeastern Persian Jewish communities, the community is neither Ashkenazi nor Sephardi. This Central Asian Jewish community has experienced alternating periods of freedom and prosperity, as well as periods of oppression. With the establishment of the Silk Road between China and the West in the 2nd century BCE that lasted well into the 16th century, many Jews flocked to the Emirate of Bukhara and played a great role in its development. After their exile from Israel in 135, they came under the Persian Empire, as they prospered and spread through the area. However, around the 5th century, began a period of persecution. Famous Jewish academies in Babylon were closed, while many Jews were killed and expelled (See Mishnah). After Arab Muslim conquest in the early 8th century, Jews (as well as Christians) were considered Dhimmis and were forced, among other things, to pay the jizya head tax. The Mongol invasion in the 13th century also adversely affected the Jews of Bukhara.

In the beginning of the 16th century, the area was invaded and occupied by nomadic Uzbek tribes who established strict observance of Islam and religious fundamentalism. Confined to city quarters, the Jews were denied basic rights and many were forced to convert to Islam. By the middle of the 18th century, practically all of Bukharan Jews lived in the Bukharan Emirate. In 1843, Bukharan Jews collected 10,000 silver tan'ga and purchased land in Samarkand, known as Makhallai Yakhudion close to Registon.

At the beginning of 17th century, the first synagogue had been constructed at Bukhara city. It was done in contravention of the law of Caliph Omar who had forbidden the construction of new synagogues as well as the destruction of those that existed in the pre-Islamic period. The story of construction of the first Bukhara synagogue relates to two persons: Nodir Divan-Begi - important grandee, and nameless widow, who outwitted an official.

File:Prokudin-Gorskii-54.jpg
Jewish students with their teacher in Samarkand, ca. 1910.

In 1793, a Sefardi Jew from Tetuan, Morocco, named Yosef Maman traveled to Bukhara and found the local Jews in very poor condition, and he decided to settle there. He became a spiritual leader and changed the Persian religious tradition to Sephardic Jewish tradition. In the middle of the 19th century, Bukharan Jews began to move to the historic Land of Israel. Land on which they had settled in Jerusalem was called the "Bukharan Quarter" ("Sh'khunat Bukhori"), which still exists today.

In 1865, Russian troops took over Tashkent, and there was a large influx of Jews to the newly created Turkestan Region. From 1876 to 1916, dozens of Bukharan Jews held prestigious jobs, and some Jews prospered. Many Bukharan Jews became successful and well-respected actors, artists, dancers, musicians, and singers. Jews were free to practice Judaism.

Soviet era

Bukharan Jews celebrating Sukkot, c. 1900.

Prior to the establishment of the state of Israel, the Bukharan Jews were one of the most isolated Jewish communities in the world.

With the establishment of Soviet rule on the territory in 1917, Jewish life seriously deteriorated. Throughout 1920s and 1930s, thousands of Jews, fleeing religious oppression, confiscation of property, arrests, and repressions, fled to Palestine. . In Central Asia, the community attempted to preserve their traditions while displaying loyalty to the government. World War II and the Holocaust brought over a million Jewish refugees from the European regions of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe through Uzbekistan. In the early 1970s, one of the largest Bukharan Jewish emigrations in history occurred as the Jews of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan emigrated to Israel and the United States, due to looser restrictions on immigration.

After 1991

With the disintegration of the Soviet Union and foundation of the independent Republic of Uzbekistan in 1991, there was an abrupt growth of nationalism, chauvinism, and xenophobia in Uzbek public consciousness. Advent of Islamic fundamentalism in Uzbekistan caused a sudden increase in the level of emigration of Jews (both Bukharan and Ashkenazi). For the next two decades, about 100,000 immigrated to Israel, another 50,000 to the US (mainly Queens, New York) and about 2,000 still remain in Uzbekistan and fewer than 1,000 in Tajikistan (compared to 15,000 in Tajikistan 1989)

Currently, Bukharan Jews are mostly concentrated in the American cities of (New York, Arizona, Atlanta, Denver, San Diego), as well as in Israel, Austria, Russia, and Uzbekistan. New York City's 108th Street in Forest Hills Queens, is filled with Bukharan restaurants and gift shops. They have formed a tight-knit enclave in this area that was once primarily inhabited by Ashkenazi Jews.

On the beginning of the Jewish New Year 5765 (2005), the Bukharan Jewish community of Queens (mainly Rego Park and Forest Hills) celebrated the opening of the Bukharian Jewish Congress. This establishment further reflects the growing Bukharan community in Queens and their desire to preserve their identity in an ever-changing world.

In early 2006, the still-active Dushanbe synagogue in Tajikistan as well as the city's mikveh (ritual bath), kosher butchery, and Jewish classrooms were demolished by the government (without compensation to the community) to make room for a new Presidential residence. After an international outcry, the government of Tajikistan reversed its decision and will allow the synagogue to be rebuilt on its current site.

Culture

Bukharan Jews had their own dress code, similar to but also different from other cultures (mainly mongolo-turkik cultures) living in Central Asia. On weddings today, one can still observe the bride and the close relatives put on the traditional kaftan (Jomah-джома-ג'ומא in Bukhori and Tajik) and the richly-embroidered fur-lined hats and dance.

Music

The Bukharans have a distinct music called "shashmaqam," which is an ensemble of stringed instruments, infused with Central Asian rhythms, much klezmer, Muslim melodies, and even a few Spanish chords.

Cuisine

Bukharan cuisine consists mainly of shish kabobs of chicken, beef or lamb. The cuisine has been influences by the many cultures it has interacted with over its history. Pulled noodles,known as lagman, are similar in style to Chinese lamian, and both are traditionally served in a meat broth. Samsa, pastry filled with spiced meat or vegetables, are baked in a tandoor oven, and bear a resemblance to Indian samosas.

Plov is a very popular slow cooked rice dish that contains carrots and is often topped with beef or lamb. Bukharans have two main types of bread. One is called Non, which is a circular bread topped with black sesame seeds, and the other is called Noni Toki, which is sometimes compared to matzah.

Notable Bukharan Jews

See also

Notes

  1. "The Silk Road Leads to Queens" New York Times 18 January 2006

External links

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